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From Dr Yunus book - Creating World without Poverty: Social Business, Future of capitalismYunus 3/5 Poverty – Citizens Alert of Century
21 (p 104-8) http://www.grameenbb.org/ For too long people in developed nations have taken a fatalistic attitude towards poverty. Poverty
doesn’t only condemn humans to lives of difficulty and unhappiness, it can expose them to life-threatening dangers.
Because poverty denies people any semblance of control over their own destiny, it is the ultimate denial of human rights.
When freedom of speech or religion is violated in this country or that, global protest are often mobilised in response. Yet
when poverty violates the rights of half the world’s population, most of us turn our heads away.
Traditionally the poor have been looked upon as a social liability. Policies and institutions have
grown up with this in mind. As a result the capacity of the poor to make productive contributions on their own behalf and
to benefit the entire society has rarely been recognized. Once we recognise this capacity we can create programs that will
support and make use of the creative gifts of the poor.
Many anti-poverty efforts
are funded by well-intentioned people in the developed countries either through government grants, NGOs or international aid
agencies. It is sad to see how much of this money is being invested in ways that are wasteful. In many cases money that is
supposed to help the poor ends up creating businesses for companies in the developed world – training firms, consultants,
and the like. In other cases its finds its way into corrupt local governments or elite social groups. Those in the developed
world who want to reach out to the poor should make a political commitment to build solidarity with the bottom half of the
population in the developing countries , especially the women among them. Taxpayers in developing countries should make it
plain to their aid officials and legislative representatives that they want their money to go directly toward the reduction
of poverty through the support of the productive capacities of poor people themselves
Prioritization of those in need is also important. Not only should the non-poor be excluded from an anti-poverty program,
but the poorest and very poor should have higher priority than the less poor. One of the ways that many
aid programs fail is by allowing resources to be diverted to unintended people. The most effective anti-poverty programs are
purpose-built programs specifically tailored to the needs of the poor, not general projects serving society. Programs to build
infrastructure, provide health-care or offer job training may be fine things. But experience shows that unless they specifically
target the poor, the non-poor will eventually receive the lion’s share of the benefits, leaving the poor as badly off
as ever , or perhaps even worse so.
(p219) When we look back at human history, it is clear that
we get what we want – or what we fail to refuse. If we are not achieving something, it is because we have not put our
minds to it. We are accepting psychological limitations that prevent us from doing what we claim we want. At the moment, we
accept the idea that we will always have poor people among us, that poverty is part of human destiny. The fact that we accept
this notion is precisely why we continue to have the poor. If we firmly believe that poverty is unacceptable –that it
should have no place in a civilised human society – then we will build appropriate institutions and policies to create
a poverty-free world.
Mistakes made by Development Program Economics –p52 1 Programs addressed to children
should not be looked upon as “humanitarian” or “charitable”. If poverty is to be reduced or eliminated,
the next generation must be our focus. We must prepare them to peel off the signs and stigmas of poverty, and instil in them
a sense of human dignity and hope for the future. Thus children focused programs are prime development
ones – no less so than building an airport, factory or highway. 2 Development strategies focus too much on material accumulation and achievement.
Instead the focus needs to be shifted to human beings, their initiative and enterprise. The first and foremost task of development
is to turn on the engine of creativity inside each person. Any program that merely meets the physical needs of a poor person
or even provides a job is not a true development program unless it leads to the unfolding of his or her creative energy. 3 Standard definition of economic development misses out on
true contextual sustainability. Economic development should not be measured solely by income per capita, consumption per capita
or anything per capita. The essence of development is changing the quality of life for the bottom half of the population.
And that quality is not to be defined just by the size of the consumption basket or the range of choices offered to a person
alone. It must include the enabling environment so individuals explore their own creative potential. This is more important
than any mere measure of income or consumption. (Thus microcredit turns on the economic engines among the
rejected population of society. Once a large number of these engines start working, the stage is set for big things.)
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